"Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster"
review by Diablo Joe




"Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster"

There are few characters in cinema, or any genre, quite so dominated in the public mind by the actors who portrayed them as Bela Lugosi’s “Count Dracula” and Boris Karloff’s “Frankenstein’s Monster.” But, while vampires may come in a glittering array of styles, the good doctor’s creation will always call forth Karloff wearing Jack Pierce’s genius makeup. And, as men, both Lugosi and Karloff could not have had more different careers and private lives, though both would bring ups, downs, and sometimes great pain to each man.

Screening on Amazon Shudder, “Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster” from director/writer Thomas Hamilton and co-writer Ron MacCloskey (who also co-wrote 2006’s “Karloff and Me”) is a documentary examining the life of Hollywood’s most iconic monster actor. Told through interviews with notable (and familiar) horror aficionados and cinema experts, and through the man’s own words, it is a pleasant, if not quite revelatory, examination of Karloff’s life, career, and legacy.

The documentary starts near the end of Karloff’s career and life, diving into his work in Mario Bava’s “Black Sabbath,” Peter Bogdanovich’s “Targets,” and the memorable “How the Grinch Stole Christmas.” From there, we leap backward, into the man’s work immediately before his career-defining role in Universal’s 1931 “Frankenstein.” It’s an odd way to throw the audience into an overview of a man’s life, and the film's overall structure is often distracting. Jumping back and forth through time, frequently with little or no notable clues to transition, the first half of the doc can be a bit meandering. The story of “Frankenstein’s” filming and Karloff’s immediately following successes with “The Mummy” somehow lead into Karloff’s early years as a child, his work in Canada as a laborer, and to his early years in Hollywood. A discussion of his efforts with the Screen Actors Union somehow leapfrogs us past “Frankenstein” and into 1934’s “The Black Cat.” This whole circuitous route can often be challenging.

As we head toward Karloff’s acting in Val Lewton’s 1940s films, early television performances, and on to the latter half of his career, the movie follows a more linear timeline. Touched upon, of course, are his incredible films with Roger Corman and the one role that may actually eclipse The Monster—Dr. Seuss’s “The Grinch.” As the film guides us through Karloff’s final years and movies, daughter Sara extols how the fans have been essential to keeping her father’s legacy so alive and vibrant.

Sara Karloff has been deeply connected to that legacy as well, and one has to imagine that this documentary would not exist without her blessing. As such, the glimpses we get into Karloff’s personal life seem carefully vetted. As mentioned, his union work is touched upon, as is his graciousness to his fellow actors (something Karloff, in his own words, he learned from the great John Barrymore). By all accounts, not just those here, Boris Karloff was indeed, the genial, erudite, and urbane man that he presented in public. But much of this is a picture of the man that is previously well-known. Aside from a few choice tidbits, there is little new or deeper here than many fans have already seen. While his many marriages are mentioned, there are done so only in passing. Karloff, as illustrated by his unexpected appearance on “This Is Your Life,” was a deeply private individual, and viewers should not expect Sara Karloff to pull back the curtain on her father’s life in the manner that, say, Victoria Price did with hers.

“Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster” is an enjoyable, if rather workmanlike examination of its subject. Depending on your level of familiarity with Karloff, his career, and life, it may prove highly informative. For others, the anecdotes conveyed by such familiar faces as Guillermo Del Toro, Joe Dante, David Skal, Leonard Maltin, and others (including, of course, Sara Karloff) may be less fresh and enlightening. But it is a documentary that does succeed in celebrating the life and work of, not just a horror icon, but a fine actor and gentleman, even if it does not fully live up to its title.

This devil of a reviewer gives “Boris Karloff: The Man Behind the Monster” 3 out of 5 imps